Direction-indicator



S. NAKASORA.

DIRECTION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR 25, I920. I

1 ,35 3, 1 28 Patented Sept. 14, 1920.

9 2 IN VEN TOR 5O EIHA6HIRO 11AKA50RA BY '4 I 5W1;

ATTORNEY SEIHACHIBO NAKASOBA, 0F NILES, CALIFORNIA.

DIRECTION-INDICATOR.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it-known that I, SnIHAoHIRo NAKASORA,

a citizen of the United States, residing at" Niles, in the county of Stockton and State of California, have'invented new and useful Improvements in Direction-Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a direction indicator.

It is the principal'obj ect of the present in-' vention to provide a direction indicator adapted to be used upon vehicles to indicate the intended path of travel to be pursued by the vehicle, said indicator being further designed to be easily manipulated in a manner to indicatea proposed stop of the vehicle or when it is intended to reverse the direction of the vehicle?s travel.

The present invention contemplates the use of a lamp house having translucent indicating members in its Various'sides and one end, said members being visible in the day time and rendered visible at night by the use of illuminating means, the lamp house being controlled so that it may' be moved in a horizontal or vertical plane to indicate the Various signals.

The inventionis illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which; Figure 1 is a View showing the general construction and application of the present v invention.

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation showing the structure. g V

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view in transverse verticalsection through the lamp house and more particularly showing the pivotal mounting therefor.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 10 indicates a tube adapted to extend through a dash board 11. This tube is fixed in relation to the board and is intended to project forwardly of the vehicle so that a lamp house 12 may be readily visible from all angles. rectly secured to the tube but is mounted upon a rotatable bar 13 which is housed,

within the tube and extends outwardly from both ends thereof. vThe outer end of this bar carries a pivot shaft 14 which is free Specification ofLetters Patent. Patente 7 Application filed March 25, 1920. Serial No. 368,559.

The lamp house 12 is not di-' to rotate withinan opening the bar and is preferably fixedto' the bottom wall 15 of the lamphouse.

The lamp'house'is preferably rectangular in cross section having a bottom wall 15,a

top wall 16 and side walls 17 and-18. These J walls are each formedwith openings, in'the present lnstance, to indicate arrows as shown at 19. The arrows of the four sides of the lamp housepoint in thesame direction. The

a Sept. 14, 1920.

openings by which these arrows are defined are covered by pieces of translucent material 20 through which the'illuminating raysfrorn an incandescent lamp 21 may pass, The members 20 are normally of light color so that they may be freadily observed in the day time without illumination. The end of the lamp house corresponding with the shaft of the arrows is formed with an opening 22 covered with a translucent member 20 and which opening is adapted to appear when] the vehicleis to be reversed.

A disk. 23 is fixed to the bottom ;of the: lamp house and is adapted to receive cables at and. 25. These cables are preferably se-;

cured to diametrically opposite sides of the disk, and are led through the tube 10. Their terminating ends are fitted with knobs or other grips as indicated at 26 which will permit either of the cables to be drawn and the lamp house swung in a corresponding 1 direction on the axis of its pivot 14. "In

order that the lamp house will be. restored to 7' its original position and wil be maintained in this normal position, oppositely wound coil springs 27 and 28 are suitably positioned around the pivot shaft 14. It is intended that the lamp house will stand with its longitudinal axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and that when signaling it will be swung a quarter of a circle in either direction to indicate a corresponding course of travel, after which the release of either of the cables 24'or 25 will permit the corresponding spring 27 or 28 to swing the lamp house to its original nonsignaling position.

In indicating a proposed stop the lamp house is adapted to be turned upwardly after it has been drawn to a transverselyextending position. This action is permitted by rotation of the bar 13 within the pipe 10 thus bodily swinging the pivot bolt 14 from its vertical to a horizontal position and thereby causing the arrow to point upwardly.

Electric current is supplied to bulb 21 through conductors 29 and 30. These mem bers may be led through or along the bar 13 and are fitted with a snap switch 31 by which the circuit. may be broken or closed as desired.

In operation of the present invention the lamp house as before stated is held in its normal position with its longitudinal axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the pipe and'the vehicle. W'hen it is desired to indicate that the irehicle will turn" to the right the cable 25 is drawn so that the disk 23 and the lamp house will swing in a manner to cause the arrows 19 to point toward ther'ight. This signalin ope-amen may be maintained as long as the cable 25 is held;

A release of this cable will cause one of the .whil'e the disk23 is standing in a horizontal' plane. 'If it is desired to stop the vehicle one of the .cables24 or 25 is pulled to swing the lamp house transversely'of the vehicle and thereafter thebar lii'is rotated a quarter of a turn to dispose the disk and lamp house in a vertical plane rather than their normal horizontal plane. Thisv signaling position may be discontinued by the release of the cable drawn. In the day time the translucent plates will appear visible and will clearly outline the arrows, while at night the bulb 21 may be illuminated by switch31 to close the lighting circuit.

It will thus be seenthat the device here disclosed is simple in its construction, possesse's few moving parts, thereby eliminating wear andthe possibility of rendering the structure inoperative and furthermore. that the present invention-may be, simply and directly operated to produce all of the signaling actions required.

VVhile I have shown the preferred form of my inventionas now known to me, it will be understood that various changes in the combination, construction and arrangement of parts may be made by those, skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A vehicle direction indicator comprising a rectangular lamp containing casing with longitudinal, colored. translucent direction pointers in its sides, a horizontal bar upon which the casing is supported,

a vertical pin j'ournaled in the bar, upon which the casing is turnable, means con nected with the casing by which it may be horizontally turned with the pointers indicating the direction of the turn to be made and a pair of oppositely coiled springs connected with the pin, the tension of one spring being increased when the cas ing is turned to return the casing to its normal balanced position when released, and

means by which the bar may be revolved'to place the indicator in a vertical position.

2. In a'v ehicle difeetion indicator of the character described, a rectangular lamp con.

taining casing with longitudinal colored lar guide disks fiized to'the bar and turnable therewith within the tube to place the indi cator in a vertical position.

3.. A direction indicator comprisin 'a rema ns horizontally disposed bar, a disk rotatably mounted near the outer end of said bar, said disk carrying horizontally 'dis posed signal casing at right angles to the bar, and said casing being rectanguiar in cross section and having longitudinal, colored translucent direction indicators in its sides, and a pair of cables, each of which have one ofv their ends secured upon the periphery of the-disk at diametrically opposing points whereby with the pulling. upon either of the cables the lamp casing will be turned in a corresponding direction.

4:. A direction indicator comprising a rotatable horizontally disposed bar, a disk rotatably mounted near the outer end of said bar, said disk carrying a horizontally dis posed signal casing at right angles to the bar, and said casing being rectangular in cross section and having longitudinal, colored translucent direction indicators in itssid'e's, and top, and means by which the bar may be manually rotated tobring the lamp casing to a vertical position.

5., A direction indicator comprising a rotatable horizontally disposed bar, adisk rotatably mounted near the outer end of said 7 bar, said disk carrying a horizontally disposed signal, casing at right angles to the bar, and said casing being rectangular in cross section and having longitudinal, colored translucent direction indicators itssides, and a pair of cables, each of which have one oftheir ends secured upon the periphery of the disk at diametrically opposing points, guide means by which the cables are brought to have their other ends disposed at the other end of the bar and perinitting either of said cables to be drawn to produce alternate signal movements of the signal casing, and a handle formed on the inner end of the bar by which the bar may be manually rotated to bring the signal casing to a vertical position.

In testimony whereof I have hereuntoeet my hand in the presence of two subscribing 10 witnesses.

SEIHACHIRO NAKASORA.

Witnesses W. W. HEALEY, M. E. EWING. 

